"From tabica in hand he applied several strokes": childrenand (in)justices in the world of work in the 1930s

Abstract

When looking at children and adolescents in the world of adult work, the historiography of children and youth has been problematizing the different social and cultural practices that demarcate disciplinary policies and/or protection measures. The 20th century was the scene of legal initiatives that sought to establish codes of control over children, families and employers, producing the discourse of“resocialization from work”. The objective of this work is to analyze the daily life of boys in the world of work in Recife, in the 1930s. The periodicals, laws and criminal proceedings will be analyzed on the documentary sources that allowed the production of discursive practices on child labor. The article raises relevant issues, such as violence in the world of work and the attempt to unionize the“minor worker”. Turning to the story of boys and girls in the world of work, made us find a universe permeated by (in)justice practiced by adults. In the name of production, profit and added value, the “strength of tobacco” was used to correct or coerce children and adolescents, physical violence and carelessness reveal the daily life marked by exploitation, but by survival and resistance tactics.